The Steelers turned to first-round pick Kenny Pickett in the second half of Sunday’s game against the Jets, but head coach Mike Tomlin isn’t saying if he’ll remain the quarterback in Week Five.
Tomlin said in his postgame press conference that he put Pickett in the game because the Steelers “needed a spark.” Pickett provided one by running for two touchdowns to put the Steelers up 20-10 early in the fourth quarter, but he threw a killer interception to set up the Jets’ game-winning touchdown drive and Tomlin said he wasn’t going to have any comment about who will start next weekend against the Bills.
“We did what we needed to do to put ourselves in position to win this game,” Tomlin said. “We’ll do it again. I’d like to just keep it where we are in terms of what transpired here today. We’ll deal with next week next week.”
The Steelers fell to 1-3 with Sunday’s loss and another one in Buffalo will leave them with long odds of turning their season around for a playoff berth. That would leave ample time for Pickett to gain experience, but it may also be the best argument to give him the ball from the start next time out.